Bell-operating mechanism



June 8', 1926., 1,587,911

F. E. KLING ET Al.

BELL OPERATING MECHANI SM Filed July 29l 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 8 1926. 1,587,911

F. E. KLING ET A1.

` BELL OPERATING MECHANISM Filed July 29l 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Eff/wom C. (64u55.

Patented June 8, 1926.

UNITED STA TES` FRED E. KLING .AND REINI-IOLD C. KRAUSE, 0F YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO.

BELL-OPERATING MECHANISM'.

Application led July 29, 1925. Serial No. 46,770.

This invention relates to blast furnaces and more particularly to blast furnace bell operating mechanism, and has for its object the provision of an improved form of cushioned A'bell operating mechanism which facilitates the opening and closing of the bell, insures tight closing of the bell and prevents injurious straining of the operating cables and mechanism, and also of the bell mountyings and furnace top.

Another object is to provide a blast furnace bell operating mechanism having the novel design, construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and illustrated f in' the accompanying drawings.

Tn the drawings- Figure 1 is a sectional elevation through a blast furnace embodying our invention.

- Figure 2 is a detail front elevation of the bell lifting levers and rods.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail side elevation of one of the bell operating mechanisms of this invention. i

Figure 4 is a detail of the forward end of the mechanism of Figure 3, showing the construction of the link used for the small bell operating mechanism.

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation on the vline V-V of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a plan of the forward end of the rack member of the bell operating mechanism.

Figure 7 is a plan showing the large and small bell operating mechanisms.

Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional eleva' tion through a modified form of bell operating mechanism.

Referring more particularly to the draw- 4 ings, the letterA designates the blast furnace as a whole which 1s of usual and welllnown construction,` consisting'of a hearth portion 2, bosh portion 3 and shaft 4. The upper end of the shaft converges and is closed by a lower hopper 5 havingv its lower end closed by a large bottom bell 6 and its upper end closed by a hood 7 The hood 7 has a centrally' arranged opening 8 with which a chute or upper hopper 9 communi- Cates, and the opening 8 is closed by an upper or sealing bell 10. The upper end of the chute 9vis flared outwardly to facilitate the filling ofthe chute with the material to be charged into the furnace, which material is delivered to the chute by a well known form of skip-hoist shown at 12 operated on a skip-hoist bridge 14.

The bottom bell 6 lis provided with a centrally connected operating rod 15 which extends upwardly through a tubular operating rod 16 centrally connected to the upper or sealing bell 10.

The upper ends of the rods 15 and 16 are connected, respectively, by cables 17 and 18 to the quadrant portions 19 and 2O of rocking levers 21 and 22, which are pivoted as at 23 and 24, respectively, to suitable supportsv extending upwardly from the top platform 25 of the furnace or skip bridge.

The above arrangement of bells and bell operating levers is common and well known in the art and will not be further described.

This invention isdirected primarily to a novel means for operating the levers 21 and 22, which consists of a pair of mechanisms B and C mounted on guideways 27 and 28 arranged sideby side on top of the skiphoist bridge 14. The mechanisms B and C are of duplicate construction except for the connecting link to which the operating cables are attached. Therefore, the same reference numerals will be applied to the duplicate `mot0r is operated. A suitable-roller 37 is mounted on a shaft'38 adjacent the forward end of the carriage .and directly under the pinion 34to form a movable support for the rack.

The motor. 33 has its armature shaft provided with a pinion 39 which is in mesh with a gear 40 on La'shaft 41, which shaft also carries a pinion 42 which is in mesh with a gear 43 on a shaft 43a carrying a pinion 44 which meshes with a gear 44a on the shaft 35 carrying the rackA pinion 34.

From the above it will be readily apprey,

ciated that the motor 33 will exert considerpinion to reciprocate Athrough a suitable opening inthe abutment 45 and has a plurality of coil springs 4'.) mounted thereon and a bearing washer 50 and nut-51 so that when the carriage moves upwardly on the guideways the springs49 will be compressed between the abutment and the Washer 50 and thereby tendto resist the upward travel of the carriage. The spring support `48, springs 49 and associated parts serve to counter-balance the bell load, and may be omitted when the bell load is less than` the weight of the operating mechanisms B of the rack 32 travel and i shaped formation with each of the legs` and C.'

A suitable guide and support 53 is mounted forward of the guideways 27 and 28 and serves as a track on which suitable supporting wheels 54 and 55 on the forward end support the forward end of theI rack.

The forward end of the rack 32 is of U- or ears 56 apertured to form bearings for a shaft 57. carrying the wheels 54 and 55 and forming a pivotal mounting for a link 58 between the legs 56.

The link 58 for mechanism C which is connected to the operating lever for the upper or small bell has its forward end apertured to receive the shank of va clevis rod 59 which is adjustable by means of nuts 60.

. by nuts 66.

The rod x59 carries a sheave 61 between its clevices and a cable 62 hasone end secured aroundv a sheave 61 and its other end secured around a sheave 63 on the operatinglever 22 of the small upper bel-l.v l f The link 58 `for 'the mechanism B which is connected to the operating lever 22 for the lower or large bell has its forward end formed T-shaped and has its head portion apertured adjacent each end for the reception of a pair of clevis rods 64 and 65 which are adjustably locked in position The rods 64 and 65 carry sheaves 67 and 68, respectively, between their clevices and a cable 69 h'as one end secured around the sheave 67 and is trained over a sheave 71Vmounted on-the free end of the operating lrod 22 forthe large or lower bell, and has its other end secured around the sheave 68.

In operation, when it is desired to lower either of the bells, assuming that the operatheld in position by ing mechanisms are in their closed position, with the racks 32 retracted, the motor 33 will -be energized to rotate the pinion in a clockwise direction, thus allowing the mechanisms B or C to travel downward until rotated in a counter-clockwise direction tol Vretract the rack 32.

When the bells are seated, the operation of the motor is continued for a short interval The motor When it is desired to permit the carriage to move upward along its guideway and be suspended by the cables connecting it with the bell operating mechanism, thus the entire weight of the carriage and its associated mechanism serves to insure positive seating of the bell and prevent undue strain in the motor, gears, rack, ropes, bell levers and lrods. This strain can not exceed the weight of mechanism C, or the wei the tension of springs 49, which compress during the upward movement of mechanism B. Another object of lifting the mechanism is to operate an electric limit switch to stop the motor. The carriage being free to move will be accelerated in its upward movement by the tension ofthe springs 47 against the bumper 46, thus preventing shock to the cables and operating mechanism when starting to lift the mechanism. i

` It will-be understood, however,4 that in some instances the mechanisms B and C may be of sutlicient weight to/insure the closingL of the bells without the. aid of the springs 49, or that oounterweights may be used instead of the springs 49, if desired.

In Figure 8 we have shown a slightly modified form of the operating mechanisms B :and C, in which a'screw rod y8() is substituted for the rack 32 and a nut 81 is mounted on the rod and -secured against longitudinal movement in the carriage 30.-

provided with `a ringgear por- The nut 81 is tion 82 which meshes with a pinion 83 on the armature shaft of a .motor 33"L mounted on the carria e.

This modi ed construction mechanismv is simpler than the referred form due to the fact that the reduclng gear- King between the motor and rack is eliminated. However, the preferred form is the most satisfactory for the heavy duty to which it is subjected in blast furnace operation. l

The opeartion ofthe modified form is substantially the same as the preferred form,

ht of mechanism B plus of operating" yto close said to cause an upward movement of said carexcept that the screw rod is reciprocated instead of the rack 32.

While we have shown the various operating mechanisms mounted to travel` on an inclined track it will be understood that they may just as readily be mounted to y travel in vertical guideways, if desired. yIt will also be understood that. while we have shown and described certain preferred embodiments of our invention we do not wish to be limited to such constructions, since various modifications ciples of our invention may readily be made without departing from the scope of ourinvention as defined in the appended claims.

We claiml. In a blast furnace having at least one cosing bell at its upper end, a guideway extending upwardly alongside said furnace, a carriage movable along said guideway, an operating leve-r for said bell, means connected to said lever and said carriage adapted to rock said lever to close said bell and to move l said carriage upwardly along said guideway when said bell is closed.

2. In a blast furnace having at least one closing bell at its upper end, a guideway extending upwardly alongside said furnace, a carriage movable along said guideway, an operating lever for said bell, operating means carried'by said carriage and movable toward and away from said lever and relative to said carriage, a connecting member between said operating means and said lever whereby said lever is rocked to open and close said bell, said operating means, connecting member, lever, and bell being adapted to cooperate whereby continued movement of said operating means after said bell is closed will move said carriage upwardly along said guideway. Y

3. In a blast furnace having at least one closing bell at its upper end, aguideway extending upwardly alongside said furnace, a carriage movable along said guideway, an operating lever for said bell, means extending between and connected to and said lever adapted to exert an upward pull on said carriage and to rock said lever to close said bell, said means being adapted to cause an upward movement of said carriage in said guideway after said bell is closed, whereby the weight of said carriage is suspended from said lever.

4. In a blast furnace having at least one closing bell at its upper end, a guideway extending upwardly alongside said furnace, a carriage movable along said guideway, an operating` lever for said bell, means extending between and connected to said-carriage and said lever adapted to exert an upward pull on said carriage and to rock said lever bell, said means being adapted riage insaid guideway after said bell is embodying the prinsaid carriage closed, spring means adapted to be com-n pressed by said upward movement of sald carriage so as to add a further pull on the means connecting said carriage and lever whereby seating of said bell is assured.

5. In a blast furnace having at least one closing bell at its upper end, a guideway extending upwardly alongside said furnace, a carriage movable along said guideway, an operating lever for said bell, operating meanscarried by said carriage and movable toward and away from .said lever and relative to said carriage, a connecting member between said operating means and said lever whereby said lever is rocked to open and close said bell, said operatin means, connecting member, lever, and be l being adapted to cooperate whereby continued movement of said operating means after said bell is closed will move saidcarriage upwardly along said guideway, and resilient means adapted to facilitate the upward movement of said carriage.

6. In a blast furnace having at least one closing bell at its upper end, a guideway extending upwardly alongside said furnace, a carriage movable along said guideway, an operating lever for said bell, operating means carried by said carriage and movable toward and away from said lever and relative to said carriage, a connecting member between said operating means and said lever whereby said lever is rocked to open and close said bell, said operating means, connecting member, lever, and bell being adapted tol cooperat-e whereby continued movement of said operating means after said bell is closed will move said carriage upwardly along said means for retarding the upward movement of said carriage.

7. In a blast furnace having at least one closing bell at its upper end, a guideway extending upwardly alongside said furnace, a carriage movable along said guideway,.an operating lever for said bell, operating guideway, and resilient means carried by said carriage and movable toward and away from said lever and relative to said carriage, a connecting member between said operating means and said lever whereby said lever is rocked to open and close said bell, said operating means, connecting member, lever, andbell being adapt,- ed to cooperate whereby continued movement of said operating means after said bell is closed will move said carriage upwardly l along said guideway, resilient means for re,- tarding the upward movement of sald carriage, and other resilient means for 'check ing the downward movement of said carriage and for facilitating the upward movement of said carriage. v

8. In a blast furnace having at least one closing bell at its upper end, a guideway extending upwardly alongside sid furnace, a

carriage movable alon f necting said said guideway, an operatmg lever for sai bell,`a rack mounted for reciprocation on said carriage, means for reciprocating said rack, and means conraok and said lever whereby said lever will be rocked to open and close said bell when said rack is reoiprooated.

9. A blast furnace having a closing bell at its upper end, a guide alongside the furnace, a carriage movable movable relatively to and Supported on said carriage, means for driving said member, and means connecting the bell with said member.

In testimony vvhereoi` We have hereunto 15 set our hands.

FRED E. KLING. REINHOLD KRAUSE.

l thereon, a member 10 

